Linebacker #47 Ezekiel Ansah works out in a spin move drill during BYU football practice Monday, Aug. 15, 2011.

Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News

Summary

Ziggy Ansah has been featured prominently in the pages of Sports Illustrated. He's been hounded by agents, stalked by National Football League scouts. Last Friday, he was named an honorable mention All-America selection by Pro Football Weekly.

PROVO — He's been featured prominently in the pages of Sports Illustrated. He's been hounded by agents, stalked by National Football League scouts. Last Friday, he was named an honorable mention All-America selection by Pro Football Weekly.

Not bad for a guy who came out of nowhere.

Actually, BYU's Ezekiel Ansah came from Accra, Ghana. And the senior defensive lineman is a projected first-round pick in the NFL Draft in April despite the fact that he’s only been playing the sport for a couple of years.

Indeed, life has changed immensely for Ansah, especially in recent months. His sudden fame has required coach Bronco Mendenhall and his staff to take measures to help him navigate these uncharted waters.

"We've had to put extra layers of help for him. There's really no place he can go without someone to advise him or trying to be affiliated with him," Mendenhall said. "I think we've done a nice job managing the agents, managing possible mentors for him in the future, and really trying to protect him so he can finish his finals and just play football. We're having to put a lot of focus on it."

"We've had to put a completely new process in place because of this," Mendenhall said. "Adam is running it for us after consulting with NFLPA and also some other schools that have had players in similar situations."

The coaching staff has been able to minimize the distractions for Ansah, and help him prepare to become a professional athlete. And he's remained grounded.

Right now, Ansah is just focused on his final game in a Cougar uniform as he prepares for the Poinsettia Bowl against San Diego State in San Diego on Dec. 20.

Meanwhile, ESPN's Mel Kiper, Jr., and other draft experts, have been gushing over Ansah's potential for weeks.

"Surely, there have been more scouts that have come in here than any other year," said BYU linebackers coach Kelly Poppinga. "That's saying something with John Beck, Austin Collie and Dennis Pitta having come through here on offense. There have been more scouts for this guy than any other year — for a guy that's really played one year of football."

What are the NFL scouts sayiing about Ansah?

"They love how strong he is, how fast he is, how big he is. Those three things combined, it's very rare to find a guy like that," said Poppinga, who played in the NFL for one season after his Cougar career. "They just love his upside. Not playing football for so long, they know he's just scratching the surface of what he can actually become. Every scout that's come in here has been amazed with how fast he's been able to pick up the game. That's the first question they ask is how smart he is and how fast he can pick up something. He can pick up our scheme fast. He can play five positions on our defense. They're very impressed with that. A first- or second-round pick is what everyone is saying. Obviously, he'll have to do good things at the (NFL) Combine, but he's put his name out there."

Ansah has been invited to participate in the prestigious Senior Bowl in January.

Popular Comments

I'm very happy for this young man, this is the type of success story
everybody wants to read and hear about.Just hope he can connect with the
right combination of advisors that always act in his best interest.

10:03 a.m. Dec. 16, 2012

Top comment

AZguy

Phoenix, AZ

I agree with proud Ute 100%. Great story for a great young man.

I
hope he has much success in the NFL, gets good advisors, and continues to keep
his head on straight.

Jeff Call has been a sportswriter for the Deseret News since 1997. He is the BYU beat writer and has been covering Cougar sports since 1993, when he served as sports editor at the Daily Universe. Call has written several more ..